Teaism wrote:I have visited the place many times since 90s. They have a lot of Taiwanese wares. The mood and atmosphere is nice. If the boss, Carrie, serve you it would be nice. Some info in the place: 20 hoot kiam roadtel : 63344212hours :Mon -sat 11 am -7 pmsunday and ph closed

This is probably the 4 th time they shifted and now located in a one of an old shophouses in central area.The tea, tea wares and atmosphere is good but some customers find the items are highly priced. I think the higher price is justifiable as the boss travel and hand picked all items. The shop is also standalone, so if you visit the place, they know you make all the effort to go there, and not happen to pass by (which also means you lose your bargaining power and not excuse not to purchase). I think generally if you are highly regarded to be a spendthrift customer, willing to pay more to find special wares and look for good atmosphere, and being well served by the boss, then it is place to go. I enjoy the place personally having been there often and treated well by the boss, but some of my tea friends are intimidated by the place and price. So it is a personal experience kind of shop.

Cheers!

Interesting. Probably worth a visit when I'm in SG next month then. The wares they posted on their blog do seem quite good.

You're probably right that customers lose their bargaining power - and they know it. I was a bit surprised at the outright statement that there are no free samples. I understand the policy but the straightforward statement, ah not so much. Well, I'm sure I will at least get some tea

Great that you have been around a few shops. A lot of tea and tea wares is priced according to quality with exception of some shops in Chinatown. Again it is knowledge base, so be wise when looking around. Tea Chapter is one of the pioneer but losing its momentum as good stuffs are hard to come by nowadays and the high rental make the business very difficult. We are at the twilight of tea culture here.

Teaism wrote:Great that you have been around a few shops. A lot of tea and tea wares is priced according to quality with exception of some shops in Chinatown. Again it is knowledge base, so be wise when looking around. Tea Chapter is one of the pioneer but losing its momentum as good stuffs are hard to come by nowadays and the high rental make the business very difficult. We are at the twilight of tea culture here.

Hit the nail on the head, knowledge is the main thing I am lacking. If I am looking to buy another teapot, how should I start? I am not in any real hurry or any collecting illusions, just another one to use. Where can I find some "experts"?

Wang San Yan has a decent selection too but I haven't bought anything from them.

Just for information that Chinese Tea House is closing its last outlet on 28th Feb 2014 and the last business day is 26th Feb 2014. At its heyday, this teahouse has 4 outlets and they sell very high quality tea. Due to inability to get the supply of high quality tea and higher rental and operation cost exposure, the business is not viable. They are still taking orders and do home delivery after that until a more commercially viable location is found but still there are problem of supply of quality tea. There are many teahouses in Singapore now at the brink of collapse and the culture is fading.

In the past, tea culture in South East Asia is as hot as Facebook culture. There were so many networks and teamasters parading around. Workers go on strike when there is no tea especially in the mining area. And sadly, we are now approaching the twilight of tea culture especially in Singapore. I hope there will be a revival in near future. Malaysian tea culture is still strong and there are very big following on tea.

In the meantime, I am really very happy to see so many people from the West appreciating this long historical culture. Tea culture should be a culture without nationalities and boundaries and it is most encouraging that this culture is still alive and picking up, especially with all the interest shown in this forum.

I would like to echo the same sentiments. This was the first tea shop I ever went to, that started my tea journey. Rental is usually a killer, especially in popular shopping malls where the monthly cost of rental is in the range of tens of thousand dollars (the taka branch at least).

The owner maintains very strict quality control on the tea he sells, often rejecting and refusing to sell many teas that do not pass his tasting criteria. With the affluence in mainland, rising labour costs, gone were the days when people could easily obtain good teas.

the only tea shops that seem to be flourishing are those that sell "touristea" in the local chinatown areas... retailing low end teas and tea wares at upmarket prices and packagings

Teaism wrote:Just for information that Chinese Tea House is closing its last outlet on 28th Feb 2014 and the last business day is 26th Feb 2014. At its heyday, this teahouse has 4 outlets and they sell very high quality tea. Due to inability to get the supply of high quality tea and higher rental and operation cost exposure, the business is not viable. They are still taking orders and do home delivery after that until a more commercially viable location is found but still there are problem of supply of quality tea. There are many teahouses in Singapore now at the brink of collapse and the culture is fading.

In the past, tea culture in South East Asia is as hot as Facebook culture. There were so many networks and teamasters parading around. Workers go on strike when there is no tea especially in the mining area. And sadly, we are now approaching the twilight of tea culture especially in Singapore. I hope there will be a revival in near future. Malaysian tea culture is still strong and there are very big following on tea.

In the meantime, I am really very happy to see so many people from the West appreciating this long historical culture. Tea culture should be a culture without nationalities and boundaries and it is most encouraging that this culture is still alive and picking up, especially with all the interest shown in this forum.

Bugis did seem like a pretty expensive place, especially the area where he had set up shop.

Then again, there's those really sketchy stalls in the Chinatown mall area (I can't remember the name... 4 or 5 stories, mostly "fish spas," and "massage" places). Those seem cheaper. But very sketchy.